RI Court Upholds Restrictions on Concealed Carry Articles / Gun Laws Date: Jun 14, 2004 - 06:38 AM |
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(CNSNews.com) - The Rhode Island Supreme Court has upheld the state's restrictive concealed carry law. In a 4-1 ruling on Thursday, the court rejected arguments that the "individual right to bear arms" -- as set forth in the U.S. Constitution's Second Amendment -- gives people the right to carry hidden, loaded weapons in public. The Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence, which filed a friend of the court brief in the case, hailed the ruling."We applaud the Supreme Court's ruling severely restricting the carrying of hidden, loaded weapons in public," said Daniel R. Vice, a staff attorney for the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence. "This ruling will protect the public and police officers from the proven dangers of concealed weapons."The Rhode Island Police Chief's Association and the Rhode Island Chapter of the Million Mom March also support restrictive gun laws. In Rhode Island, only people judged to have a legitimate need are licensed to carry concealed weapons.In its ruling, the R.I. Supreme Court said the law is a "reasonable...regulation of weapons that falls squarely within the state's police power.""The ruling by the Supreme Court of Rhode Island is the first ruling in Rhode Island squarely addressing whether citizens have a right to carry hidden, loaded weapons in public," the Brady Campaign said in a press release.The gun control group points to a recent study showing that states with relaxed concealed carry laws have experienced increases in violent crime. But pro-Second Amendment groups reject such conclusions, arguing that concealed carry laws put law-abiding citizens on the same footing as armed criminals.http://www.cnsnews.com/ViewCulture.asp?Page=%5CCulture%5Carchive%5C200406%5CCUL20040611b.html |
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